Tuesday, May 1Updated: May 11, 1:23 PM ETTitle game wasn't that great for '58 ColtsBy Eddie EpsteinSpecial to ESPN.com

Editor's note: Our series on the greatest NFL teams of all time continues with its second installment and a look at the 1958 Colts. The greatest team ever will be revealed on Tuesday, May 15.

Baltimore Colts quarterback John Unitas threw for a league-best 19 touchdowns in 1958.

Yeah, yeah, the game. The Greatest Game Ever Played. The Game That Changed Pro Football. What you probably don't know is that many, if not most, of the players on the 1958 Baltimore Colts do not think that the 1958 NFL championship game was the greatest ever or even the greatest they ever played in.

The Colts' Hall-of-Fame defensive end Gino Marchetti: "To me, the biggest game we played and the one I'll always remember most was not the '58 championship game, but the one on November 30 that year at Memorial Stadium when we clinched the Western Conference against the 49ers." The Colts trailed 27-7 at halftime but rallied to win 35-27 and clinch a spot in the NFL title game.

John Unitas: "I've always felt that it (the '58 championship game) wasn't a real good football game until the last two minutes, and then the overtime ... Just the fact that it was the first overtime in championship play and it happened in Madison Avenue's backyard, that was enough to make people feel they had seen something fantastic.

Points scored/allowed against teams with winning records: 151/99
*For all of these opponents' records, games against this team are excluded.

"They always forget that the month before, in the game we clinched the division and put us into the playoff, San Francisco had us down 27-7 at the half and we came back to beat 'em 35-27. That was a much better game."

The Colts' Hall-of-Fame back Lenny Moore: "I thought the best game we ever played as a team in my years with the Colts was the one when we were down 27-7 to the 49ers in '58 and came back to win."

The 1958 NFL championship game was no doubt an important game in NFL history, but as many of the combatants would tell you, it wasn't the greatest game ever played. Anyone want to nominate the first Colts-49ers game in 1958?

Tidbit: Although the Colts of the late 1950s are known primarily for Unitas and their offense, their defense was very good as well. Two of the defensive lineman, Marchetti and Art Donovan, are in the Hall of Fame. The team was also amazing at intercepting passes. Take a look:

Interceptions

1958 Team Interceptions

1959 Team Interceptions

&nbsp

Baltimore

35

Baltimore

40

Los Angeles

28

Chicago Bears

22

Pittsburgh

24

Pittsburgh

22

Chicago Bears

22

New York

22

Detroit

22

Philadelphia

20

New York

21

Cleveland

18

San Francisco

16

Chicago Cardinals

15

Washington

16

San Francisco

14

Cleveland

16

Green Bay

14

Philadelphia

15

Detroit

14

Chicago Cardinals

15

Washington

13

Green Bay

13

Los Angeles

7

One school of thought is that the Colts intercepted a lot of passes because they were usually ahead and forced the other team to throw a lot. Wrong. In 1958, they intercepted 9.6 percent of their opponents' passes; the second-best team was 7.3 percent and the league average was 6.2. In 1959, the Colts intercepted 11.4 percent of their opponents' passes; the second-best team was 7.7 percent and the league average was 6.0. They intercepted a lot of passes because they got very good pass pressure and had good linebackers and defensive backs. The fact that they were usually ahead was only a minor factor.

Eddie Epstein works as a consultant to major league baseball teams. He is the co-author, along with ESPN.com's Rob Neyer, of "Baseball Dynasties: The Greatest Teams of All Time." He has been a regular contributor to ESPN.com's baseball coverage and is a huge football fan.